Issue With AB Test setup via Visual Composer

[Ramya_SR]

We currently have two AB tests set up using Visual Composer on the home page:

1. The number of product tiles on the home page has been reduced from 12 to 6 and they have been moved to the top of the page, above the fold.
2. The images of the product tiles have been removed on the home page. Only text is displayed and pushed to the top of the page, above the fold.

We are experiencing the following issues:

1. Occasionally, the control experience (the original version) is still loading despite the test being live in the QA environment and traffic being routed to the variant (experience B) for testing.
2. We are unable to maintain consistency in the number of tiles and their format.
3. Sometimes, the removed tiles reappear unexpectedly.
4. The removed images also reappear intermittently.

We are looking for suggestions to resolve these issues. It's important to note that the top of the home page features a carousel banner, and we are trying to position the product tiles above it.

[Matthew_Ravlich_ACG · Accepted solution]

Hi @Ramya_SR,

You seem to be experiencing several issues related to A/B testing with the Visual Experience Composer (VEC). Here are my suggestions for each of your concerns:

1. Control experience still loading: It's possible that caching or cookies could be influencing the experience that gets delivered. Ensure your cache settings are appropriately configured. I would also suggest testing with incognito mode or clearing your browser's cache when testing with Google Chrome. Also, it would be helpful to validate that your audience targeting and traffic allocation settings are set up correctly. Ensure that 100% of your traffic is routed to your variations for QA testing.

2. Inconsistency in tiles and format: This might be due to the dynamic nature of your homepage. If your product tiles are loading dynamically or asynchronous events are affecting their loading, this might cause the variations to appear inconsistently. For such dynamic websites, Adobe recommends using "Custom Code" editing instead of VEC for more control over the elements on the page. You could write custom JavaScript to control the number and format of the tiles reliably.

3. Reappearance of removed tiles/images: This might also be tied to the dynamic loading of your webpage. If the tiles and images are loaded or updated asynchronously after the initial page load, they might bypass the changes introduced by the VEC. As mentioned above, custom code could give you more control and precision. Lastly, there might be a conflict with the existing JavaScript on your webpage. If any script alters the DOM structure of your page after it loads, it could be reverting the changes made by the VEC. Review your existing scripts and ensure they are compatible with your A/B testing setup.

4. Positioning product tiles above the carousel banner: This requires altering the DOM order and might not be easily achieved using the VEC, especially if your website is complex or dynamic. A more reliable approach might be to use custom JavaScript or work with your development team to adjust the page structure directly in your website's codebase.

Remember to frequently validate your tests using preview links in different browsers and devices.

More details on activity QA can be found here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/target/using/activities/activity-qa/activity-qa.html?lang=en

I hope this helps.